‘Ah, Mrs. Miggins – am I to gather from your look of pie-eyed exhaustion and the globules of porridge hanging off the walls that my cousin McAdder has presented his credentials?’
– Joseph M. 1998. Blackadder The Whole Damn Dynasty London, Great Britain: Penguin Books (1999) p. 329
Ludus is flirting and playful affection. The feelings we have when we test what it might be like to be in love with someone. The fluttering heart and feelings of euphoria; the slightly dangerous sensation.
Ludus was the Greeks’ idea of playful love, which referred to the affection between young lovers. It is the taste of flirting and teasing especially in the early stages of a relationship.
But we also live out our ludus when we sit around bantering and laughing with friends and loved ones.
“Flirting is a woman’s trade, one must keep in practice.”
– Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
In fact, there may be many ludic activities which function as a playful substitute for the far more sordid and intense affairs of Eros – sex.
See other: Kinds of Greek Love
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